2. Creating chances from midfield

The Croatian has been a creative force this season, having created 32 chances in the league this season, including 6 assists in 16 appearances. As far as Liverpool are concerned, Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard have been the most creative players with 45 and 40 chances created respectively. In their absence, only Jordan Henderson has been close with 39 chances created, and one begins to wonder where the supply will be from if they are absent due to injuries or suspension.

The Croatian has a healthy passing accuracy of 80%, and with all those chances created, he has shown the ability that he can feed others not only in and around the box, but also from deeper and wider positions. With a world-class striker in Suarez ahead of him, and Henderson and Coutinho making intelligent runs, Rakitic’s eye for a pass will undoubtedly come in handy when the Reds have to unlock solid defenses in some of the big games.